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ASSASSINATION I 





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5 PHIhl, II weST t"'«0 St., I 



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UPON THE 



ASSASSINATION 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 



BY REV. M. P. GADDIS, 



DELIVERED IN 



PIKE'S OPERA HOUSE, APRIL 16, 1865. 



WASaillGTON THE PATHER, LINCOLN THE SAVIOE OF 0U» COUNTRY 



CINCINNATI: 
TIMES STEAM BOOK AND JOB OFFICE. 

1865. 






Cincinnati, April 24, 1865. 

Rev. jM. p. Gaddis, Jr.: 

Dear Sir — We have the honor, in behalf of the "Library Association" of 
your charge, to solicit for publication, in pamphlet form, your sermons of Friday 
morning, April 14th, and Sabbath evening, April 16th, 1865. Our reasons for 
said request are, First, the merits of the sermons themselves as well as the princi- 
ples they inculcate, are deserving of a wider circulation. Secondly, a knowledge 
of the wishes of the ])ublic generally for their publication; more especially those 
who were not so fortunate to hear them delivered. Thirdly, a belief that the per- 
usal and careful study of the sentiments they contain, will tend to make us appre- 
ciate more fully our duties, not only as Christians but as American citizens in 
these trj-ing times of our country's history. 

Hoping that, for these reasons, you will accede to our request. 
We are yours respectfully, 

L. C. ROBINSON, Chairman, "1 

FRANK G. EPPLY, Secretary, 

JNO. W. RICHARDS, r CommUtee. 

WM. HIGGINS, 

FRED. LeBLOND, 



Cincinnati, Ohio, April 26, 1865. 

Messrs. L. C. Robinson, Frank G. Epply and others, 
Committee Library Association : 
Gentlemen — Your kind and complimentary favor of the 24th inst. is before 
me. In response to the same I am compelled to say, that a part of your request 
cannot be complied with. The sermon of April the 14th was in the main im- 
promptu, and cannot be written as delivered. So with portions of the sermon, 
upon the death of that yreai and good man. President Lincoln. Yet, from a 
desire to gratify an Association having for its object the glory of God and the 
good of our beloved country, I place the crude manuscript at your service, trust- 
ing that your reasons for its publication may be fully realized. 
I remain with many expressions of regard, 

Yours, as ever, in the cause of God and liberty, 

M. P. GADDIS. 



THE DEATH OF THE PRESIDENT. 



The following scenes, descriptive of the excitement attending 
the delivery of Mr. Gaddis' sermon, is taken from the Cincinnati 
Daily Times, Monday, April 18th : 

Long before dark, Sunday evening, an immense crowd congre- 
gated in front of the Methodist Church, on Sixth street, between 
Vine and Eace, presided over by Eev. M. P. Gaddis. No sooner 
had the doors been thrown open, than the crowd immediately 
filled the church to overflowing, but not one-fourth of the crowd 
could get in, and thousands remained outside, filling up all the 
approaches to it ; and when the time came for the pastor to open 
the services, he found it a matter of impossibility to do po, as he 
could not even get an entrance to the church. Finding it impossi- 
ble to proceed with the services in his church, a committee of 
several of our well known citizens, having procured the consent 
of Mr. Gaddis to deliver his sermon in Mozart Hall, providing that 
Hall could be obtained, an announcement was immediately made 
from the church steps, of the intention to deliver the sermon from 
that place, but some delay would take place, as the janitor would 
have to be seen, and the Hall lighted. 

The crowd immediately proceeded to Mozart Hall, and waited 
there patiently for it to be opened. Some disappointment was 
manifested when it was found that the Hall could not be obtained, 
the janitor refusing the use of it, as his orders were not to let the 
Hall that evening for any purpose. Another announcement was 
then made, that as it was then late, and even if the Opera House 
could be procured, it would take at least an hour before the house 
could be lighted, it would be impossible to carry the idea into effect, 
and that Mr. Gaddis would be compelled to deliver his sermon in 
his church to as many as were fortunate enough to crowd into it. 
The immense crowd then left Mozart Hall, and proceeded back to 
the church, which was soon crowded to overflowing, but thousands 
still remained outside, and showed no disposition to leave the 
vicinity, not only the sidewalks being full, but the street also. It 
seems, however, that the committee were not to be deterred from 



their efforts to obtain a hall, and finally were successful in procur- 
ing the Opera House, and the announcement being made to the 
crowd, it moved for Fourth street, hundreds of ladies and gentle- 
men hurrying through the streets on the double-quick, for fear 
they would not get there in time. 

It was but a few minutes, and the crowd in front of the Opera 
House numbered its thousands — the sidewalks and streets soon 
being full of an anxious, excited multitude. A few minutes trans- 
pired, and the doors were open, and the crowd commenced pressing 
its way in without regard to order. Ladies fainted awaj', bonnets 
were smashed in, dresses were torn, but the crowd squeezed, they 
jammed and rammed, but they determined to get into the Opera 
House. -But in this they utterly failed. Notwithstanding the 
Opera House was filled to overflowing, the isles being filled, and 
every nook and corner of it crowded to its utmost capacity, yet 
hundreds had to go away without finding even standing room. 

We have seen crowds in our time, and have seen them in the 
Opera House, but we think this would beat them all. We certainly 
never seen a larger, or more attentive and orderly audience, than 
on this occasion. 

Kev. Mr. Gaddis was received with great applause. Ho opened 
the services by some very appropriate remarks, to the effect that 
he had prepared this sei'mon for his church, and that he was 
greatly surprised at the turn affairs had taken, and hoped the 
audience would take into consideration all the circumstances of 
the occasion. He then gave out the hymn, and requested the 
audience to join in singing it: 

" Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing 
Our great Kedeemer's praise : 
The glories of our God and King, 
The triumphs of his grace." 

Mr. GrADDis, in opening, remarked that on Friday last he took 
occasion in his thanksgiving sermon to say, that now was the time 
for a great people, in the face of one of the grandest triumphs 
achieved by any people, to show a magnanimity to their con- 
quered enemies, equal to their triumphs, but since the tragical 
scenes of the past few hours, resulting in the death of the Chief- 
tain of all these victories, the sermon on the j)resent occasion 
would materially differ in its sentiments from the one referred to. 

He selected for his text the 3d chapter of second Samuel, in 
which is recorded the assassination of Abner, Captain General of 
the Israelites, confining his remarks in the main to the 38Lh verse : 
" Know ye not that a Prince and a great man has fallen this day 



in iBrael." As remarked above, Mr. Gaddis had prepared his dis- 
course for his own congregation, not aware that he was to deliver 
it in the finest hall in America, to over four thousand people. 
Below we give the contents of the sermon as we were enabled to 
obtain it. 

THE SEE/ZVCOIsr. 

In looking at the sad events of the past few hours, I can but say 
in the language of the poet — 

" God moves in a mysterious way, 
His wonders to perform ; 
He plants His footsteps in the sea, 
And rides upon the storm. " 

And, as on this sorrowful day — a day fraught with more grief 
than all others in the history of this rebellion — I behold the 
sorrow and anguish that rends the hearts of a grateful, liberty- 
loving people, 1 continue to sing — 

" Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, 
But trust Him to His grace — 
Behind this frowning providence, 
He hides a smiling face. " 

As for grief, we have, during the past four years, become inured 
to its stings. The wails of early widowhood, the sighs of orj)han- 
age, the falling of paternal and fraternal tears over the graves, 
biers, and memories of our loved ones, have not only freighted 
northern, but southern gales — -filling the entire land with sadness, 
giving us naught but a daily contir.uation of terrible facts. 

The sun of the 14th of April, 18(35, rose in unclouded splendor, 
and shone upon millions of freemen ready to join in the festivities 
and thanksgivings that were to take place over the triumphs of 
our armies ; — it set only to rise again upon one of the most terri- 
ble tragedies ever enacted since the race of man began — set amid 
a blaze of glory and joy to rise upon the nation clad in the habili- 
ments of grief and shame — grief over the loss of a great and 
good man, and shame over the fact that an American struck the 
terrible blow. E'en now there comes up from the capital of our 
country a wail of anguish, penetrating every vein and artery of 
the nation — one more keen in its cuttings than all the rest com- 
bined ; nay, more, the stroke is so piercing that it tears open every 
wound made in the body of Liberty since the war began, starts 
fresh fountains of tears from the weeping bereaved ones of the 
land, and almost opens again the graves of our dead braves. The 
wild refrain of this wail is, " Abraham Lincoln is dead ! " 



6 

My hearers, do you realize the deep significance of those words, 
" Abraham Lincoln is dead?" The most natural question upon 
an announcement like this is, '' And how did he die ? In the 
quietude of his own chamber, with his family around him, after 
the great mission of his glorious life was accomplished ? Was it 
amid the bright light of the peace he sought to bring to the nation 
over which he presided, and to whose interest he gave the full 
strength of his manhood ? Had he just finished writing some 
proclamation that was to give liberty to millions of the human fam- 
ily, or teaching the world some grand lesson in the terse, simple 
expressions of ' To whom it may concern ? ' Was it while he was 
engaged in giving expression to the merc}'^ that flowed from a heart 
overcharged with the same, in the shape of a general amnesty to 
repentent rebels ? Was it at a time when the ship of State was 
etruggling amid the mad waves of the rebellion, with the desired 
haven of peace still hidden from his sight?" No; — all this, 
thank God, was accomplished ere the findish deed was done. 

The proclamation was not only written, but the chains had 
fallen, under its power, from over three millions of enslaved men, 
"To whom it may concern " had gone forth to the worM, and has 
in the past and is to-day accomplishing its mission. His last great 
act of mercy had been written, and the Amnesty read even in the 
streets of the Eebel capital ! The ship of State was no longer in 
the maelstrom of rebellion. The shoals and quick'^ands were 
passed, the destined haven of peace was in view, the anchor was 
being thrown overboard to find a fastening fi'om which it was 
never more to be loosed. Its enemies were conquered, its millions 
of passengers were happy, its thousands of hardy sailors and de- 
fenders were preparing to taste again the joys of home. Its pilot 
came out from his place of watching and trial, to gratify a grate- 
ful people by his presence, when, from some unseen hold of trea- 
son, there sprang up a Rebel sailor, a hater of the proclamations, 
a non-submissionist to whom it may concern, a despiser of mercy, 
and who, auiid the storm, tried to scuttle the ship, dismantle its 
shroudrt, or run it upon the destructive rocks of northern sympathy, 
and with a cowardly heart, and still more cowardly design, took 
the life of the great pilot. 

Thus fell Abraham Lincoln, President of these United States. 
Fell as he lived, seeking to make his fellow men happy ; fell, too, 
by the hands of those who had the best reasons for regarding 
him as their truest friend : for in the midst of his successful efforts to 
preserve the government he had sworn to protect, he, at the same time, 
tempered the winds of vengeance to the meanest of its foes. 

Some one has said that *' Cassar was merciful ; Scipio was conti- 



nent; Hannibal was patient, and that George Washington com- 
bined these in one ;" but yet it is not said of them, as the world 
must now say of the great departed, " he loved his enemies." Like 
him of old, who came to subdue the rebellion of earth against the 
government of God, he died, saying, " Father, forgive them, the}- 
know not what they do." 

Looking upon Mr. Lincoln in this light, may we not. with great 
propriety, say, as does David in the text, " Know ye not that there 
is a Prince, and a great man fallen this day in Israel '" — and with 
equal propriety adopt the same writer's language as given in the 
context, "I and my kingdom are guiltless before the Lord forever 
from the blood of Abner." Are we all innocent? Can we all say 
that there is no drop of Mr. Lincoln's blood on our skirts? I am 
afraid that there are some here in our own city that will, in the day 
of judgment, find at least one drop of Mr. Lincoln's blood upon 
their skirts. Then turning from this declaration of our innocence, 
after having extended the hand of forgiveness to them as we did 
on Friday last, to find it so treacherously and horribly spurned, 
may we not call down David's curses upon the murderer, as he did 
on the head of the assassin Joab? I do not desire to take God's 
work in my unholy hands, for he has said, " Vengeance is mine ; 1 
will repay." I am willing to leave the penalty with Him ; for if 
ever God loved any man he must have loved Abraham Lincoln, 
and he stands pledged to avenge his own. In this I rest satisfied, 
for His pledges are immutable. Feeling, then, that there have 
been times in the administrations of God's government when ven- 
geance was necessaiy, I pray him now, in view of the great crime 
just committed — committed, too, in the name of liberty — that all 
the curses pronounced by David against Joab for the murder of 
Abner, may befall the murderer of our President: "May the 
results of his perfidious act rest upon his head, and on all his 
father's house; and let there not fail from the house of Joab one 
that hath an issue, or that is a leper, or that leaneth on a staff, or 
that falleth on a sword, or thav lacketh bread." 

And may we, who feel so deeply this treasonable work, live to 
see the time when, out of this darkness, there shall come glory and 
honor to all those who loved the victim, and hated the murc'erer. 
It is not my purpose, at this time, to enter upon a history- of the 
life and services of Mr. Lincoln. He needs no written or spoken 
history. His memory, the glory and goodness of his deeds, are 
written on an imperishable tablet: on the heart of liberty-loving 
humanity wherever it breathes the air of freedom, or tramples 
upon broken shackles ; nay more, it will cheer the hope of those of 
our race who are still oppressed, until the morn of their redemp- 



8 

tion comes, and with it the fulfillment of that song of universal 
freedom, ihat came first from Heaven, and will not return again 
until earth returns with it, to Eden and God. 

He has gone from us. And while I would not wipe away a 
single tear that falls from millions of eyes to-night, or check one 
of the unnumbered sighs that come up from as many wailing 
hearts, allow me to say that our tears and our sighs will not call 
him back. His place is vacant forever ; his mantle falls upon the 
shoulders of others. This being the case, let us look backward 
over his illustrious life for consolation, and forward to the great 
results that must flow, not onl}-- to us as a nation, but to the world 
at large, from his tragical death. I shall attempt no eulogy — I am 
not equal to the task. His own life, as we know it, constitutes his 
best eulogy. Neither shall I attempt to apologize for God in his 
actions toward us as a nation. Had we loved and served him as 
He has loved and served us, there would have been no occasion, in 
the administering of his wise Providence, for the removal of the 
President. I look away from our sorrow to-night ; I look up from 
that small house, that now contains all that is left of earth, to the 
God of all good — to Him who gave us such a President — to find 
his countenance smiling in mercy upon us. I hear him say that 
all these things shall work together for our good. God alone can 
estimate the value of liberty ; hence he gave us Mr. Lincoln, in 
order to enhance its value in our eyes, and then took him away 
that its newly developed glories, as connected with his memory, 
might become still more precious to us. The value of a blessing in 
this world is generally estimated by its cost. In this view of the 
subject the blessings of civil liberty should be dearer to us now 
than a'l else, save the consolations of our holy religion, and this 
in our hearts only makes its blessings more sweet. It took over 
four thousand years of sacrifice and offering upon the altars of 
God, and ultimately the death of his own sou, to redeem man from 
sin. into the pleasant liberty of righteousness; and the marks of this 
mighty struggle are traceable in blood from where Abel offered his 
bleeding victim down to Calvary's summit, where, through the 
blood of Jesus, victory came and Satan was conquered. The price 
paid for liberty stands next to this. I have not time to trace its 
struggles, its defeats or victories, or to show how near its triumph 
is complete. Its history, as connected with our own fair land, will 
be suflScient to show j^ou the immense and, may I say, the dreadful 
price to be paid for its blessings. Read o'er the struggles of our 
forefathers, from their landing on the rock-bound shores of New- 
England until the dawn of their revolutionary triumph ; then 
take their subsequent struggles with the Indians, the second lime 



/ 9 

with the mother country, with Mexico, with treason and nullifica- 
tion, and close the chapter with the immense sacrifices made 
during the present war, and in some slight degree you may 
realize the cost of civil liberty. Its money value may bo computed 
so far as the expenditure of rational currency is concerned, but 
where is the voice, or pen, that can describe the cost of so much 
precious blood and life ''■ Yet these are paiis of liberty's price. 
Every drop of blood, every fallen brave, every tear, every throb 
of anguish, every broken household, every vacant chair, every 
lonely grave, is so much paid into the treasury of liberty. It de- 
manded an Ellsworth, a Lyons, a Baker, a McPherson, a McCook, 
a Lytle, a Mitchell, and time would fail to mention a Patrick, an 
Elstner and Leek, of our own city, and a thousand others whose 
names have been rendered by her immortal. 

We have met her demands as often as they came, until, at last, 
we thought her satisfied ; and, radiant with sacrifice and victory, 
we went up to receive her bles.sings, rendered to her on the 14:th 
instant our grateful homage, and returned prepared to enjoy the 
rich fruits that were in store for us. when again her voice was 
heard mingling with the dying throbs of treachery and treason — 
"one sacrifice more" ere my triumph is complete. "Who is it? 
starts from eveiy heart. Is it one of our gallant generals who has 
triumphantly led our armies to victory? No! Who then? No 
less a personage than the Captain of this s,hip that was at that 
moment furling her sails ready to enter the port of peace. Not 
one of the disciples, but the "Master." In order that the work may 
be well done, the Chief must die. 

Here I would, if I could, drop the curtain over this last and 
grander sacrifice ; but as the claims of God and Liberty must meet 
with full satisfaction, I say to them in this hour of grief: Here we 
are ready to lay upon thy glorious altar more of goodness — more 
of political worth — more of true virtue — more of mercy — more 
of charity and love than thou hast ever before received in one 
personal offering. O, Liberty ! here to- night, on thy bloody but 
triumphant altar, we offer thee the Moses of the nineteenth cen- 
tur}^^ — the Winkelried of America — the Howard of the Union — 
the Wilberforce of over three millions of liberated slaves — the 
Luther of the world's future political status — the admired of 
earth — the idol of freemen everj'where — the loved of our hearts. 
Go search the world for living men, where will you find his like 
again ! Will nut this suffice ? Is not his blood suflScient to put out 
the remaining fires of treason, and from its lofty eminence, will it 
not spread o'er all the land until it becomes the cementing bond 
of eternal fidelity to the Union? Grant it, God of Liberty! 



10 

Denied the privilege of entering with us into the promised land, 
may his freed spirit, not many days hence, be sent, as a minister- 
ing angel, to guide us as we enter into the possession of the heri- 
tage given to us by this last and heaviest payment. 

But I am to speak of the results that will, in all human proba- 
bility, flow from the death of the President. Every death, to him 
who studies the providences of God, is intended for some good, 
greater or less. Moses was called to die just at a time when they 
were about to enter the promised land. God gave him the sight, 
but denied him an entrance. The reason assigned by the writer 
is, that Moses, at some time while leading the children ot Israel, 
displeased God. {Here the speaker referred to the history of 
Moses.) But there were other reasons. The children of Israel 
were an idolatrous people. They had more than once merged the 
Creator in their worship of the creature. The history states that 
in the course of their journeyings and sufferings they murmured 
at Moses, disliked his administrations, yet on their near approach 
to deliverance, their murmurings were turned into affection, their 
complaints into rapturous praises, and they had already said, in 
their hearts, "great is Moses," instead of "great is the God of 
Moses." They, in their rejoicings, were ready to say, " See what 
Moses has done for us." They lost sight of the Author of their 
success, while looking upon the instrument. Here God saw that 
the work of Moses w..s complete, and taking him up into the 
mountain, he convinced him of the fact. 

Again, Moses was a merciful man, and God may have said, in 
his heart, " he has too often stayed my anger against this people) 
they must now pass into other hands, in order tliat mercy does not 
become a crime." May I not apply the above to our modern 
Moses? No man ever encountered as much difficulty in trying to ad- 
minister the government of this country as Air. Lincoln. Opposition, 
not only from its enemies, but its avowed friends, met hira at every 
step. There were heard murmurs and objections to his adminis- 
tration ; many expressed fears and doubts, yet as he at last brought 
the nation to the banks of deliverance, over thirty millions of 
freemen began to exclaim, Great is Abraham Lincoln! and in the 
spirit of sudden idolatry, ihat has ever characterized us as a 
nation, we were ready to sink the Author of our happiness and 
deliverance in the honored instrument. If not this, another rea- 
Bon is prominent. Our President was a man of unbounded mercy 
— never was as much mercy enshrined in humanity since the days 
of the Nazarine as was in him. He was devoid of all prejudice, 
of all personal resentment, of all feelings of hatred; in fact, mercy 
was more pre-eminent in his administration than justice, and, 1 dare 



11 

not say tonight, that it was not right, ycc, like Moses of old, his 
work was completed when mercy seemed to interfere with the 
claims of justice. 1 may be wrong in this remark, God forgive me 
if I am, 3'et I can but feel, riven by grief as I am, that when the 
dark shadows of treason, in the garb of an assassin, entered that 
box in the theatre of the capital, that mercy folded her snowy 
pinions and left treason t(j the thunderbolts of justice, to return 710 
more until this last great wrong is wiped out in the death or expa- 
triation of every leader of this foul rebellion, (Continued cheer- 
ing.) The wrongs of liberty culminated in the assassination of 
Mr. Lincoln, and, minister as I am, I feel like saying to-night, that 
these wrongs must be avenged. One of the results of this execra- 
ble act is the opening of our eyes to the fact that in the midst of 
our joy we were about to take to our bosom a half frozen adder, 
only frozen by the power of our arms, to warm it into life again. 

'• Ye.s, to make tbein great again, 
Who sought their country's ruin."' 

Now, the adder must die! [Immanse apphnise.) Hence I feel to 
say, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. For every drop of 
blood that flowed from the veins of this great and good man, at 
least one leading Rebel must die, or be banished from this country 
forever. \_The scene that followed this cannot be described. Hun- 
dreds rose to their feet ; thousands of handkerchiefs waved all 
over the hall, and it was many seconds ere the eloquent preacher 
could proceed.'] By the unnumbered graves of our slain sons, 
husbands and brother';; by the wails of America's weeping 
Rachels ; by all the sorrows of widowhood and orphanage ; b}' all 
the graves of those who were starved to death in Rebel prisons ; 
by the dark emblems of mourning that surround me this night ; 
by the mercy that we have shown to our enemies; in their name, 
I demand that this climax of their terrible iniquity be wiped out at 
the hands of the sternest justice that this nation is capable of 
administering. (Continued cheering.) Not only is this due to 
us, but due to the world at large. We must now set the seal to 
our triumphs in the death or banishment of those who, though 
fostered, educated and fed by the genius and liberality of our Iree 
institutions, willingly and knowingly raised their bloody hands (not 
only stained with the blood of their slaves, and with the precious 
blood of the republic, but the blood of one of the best men of 
modern times,) to strike down the best government of earth. 

Another result, I trust, will consist in our valuing the blessings 
of liberty more, and a living consciousness of the great fact that 
while we propose God will dispose. Let us learn to lean more 



12 

upon God than man. Let us cultivate and cherish more of those 
great principles of righteousness "that alone cxalteth a nation." 
Let us reverence God more and man less. Another great result of 
his death will be to cement more firmly our love to country ; for, 
as said before, this love will and must be in proportion to its cost. 
And as we cannot compute this, let all nations say of us in time to 
come, that our love to the Union and the great principles of civil 
liberty cannot be estimated. But time and your patience forbids 
m}' dwelling longer on this dai'k picture. Mr. Lincoln the pure, 
unselfish, unprejudiced patriot, is at this hour in the land of per- 
petual freedom — the land where treason, assassination and their 
authors cannot go. His mighty work is done, and I hear a voice 
from that heavenly world saying, " Blessed are the dead who 
die in the Lord. Yea, saith the spirit, they rest from their 
labors, and their works do follow them." His works shall follow 
him; though dead, he shall still speak. Let us hearken to his 
voice. To the young men, who so largely compose this audience, 
I would say, listen to him. Imitate his glorious life. Live like 
him, for God, your country, and the rights of all men. Be pure 
in heart and purpose as was 3-our great President. Be loj^al as he 
was loyal. Love all men — whether white or black, bond or free 
— as he loved them. Be merciful as he was merciful. Let the 
inspiration of bis memory be one of the guiding stars of yoxxr 
future life. As a citizen of our Republic he was true to his citizen- 
ship. As a patriot he has no superior. Love of liberty and coun- 
try was with him a principle — a living, vitalizing, active principle 
to which home, friends, party, and all else was subordinate. He 
suffered no desire for ease, or pleasure, or the honors of the world 
to swerve him from the path of duty, and he only died that the 
trium])h of liberty, and your future happiness, might be complete. 
He died to per])etuate through all time the blessings that must 
flow from a government like ours. He died in order " that the 
heel of the old flag staff might forever crush the rattlesnake's 
head." Yea, that the manj^-headed monster of treason should be 
buried beneath the car of genuine republicanism, beyond the hope 
of u future resurrection. He died amid the ringing of fetters as 
they fell from the enslaved millions of the South ; as the cruel 
crack of the overseer's lash fell for the last time upon the back of 
the last slave of America. My fellow-citizens, to die thus is to die 
triumphantly. 

"For wliotlior on the gallow.s high, 

Or ]jy tho ussassiu's hand; 
Tlu! fittest phicc for man to die. 

Is when ho dies for man!" 



13 

Such a death is to be envied ; for he who dies for the freedom of 
man never dies. Nay, "the earth maj pass like a wild dream 
away, the very heavens be rolled together as a scroll, but He, be- 
neath whose feet the sun and stars are but dust," has said, "that 
the memory of such as Lincoln shall never die." Such memories 
shall live ; they shall never grow dim with age. They are graven 
upon the very mountains, and in the valleys of the land the}' loved 
so well. And in the time to come, from the foam-crested waves of 
the Atlantic to those of the wild Pacific, as they ^ing lullabys of 
freedom to the setting sun ; from the circling lakes, the guardians 
of liberty on the north, to the dark waters of the gulf, across which 
to night our victorious banner flashes defiantly at the enemies of 
republican government, their names shall be chanted in notes of 
gladness and songs of grateful remembrance, and the youths of 
other daj^s shall come from afar to visit their graves, while the 
freed nations of earth shall make their way across thousands of 
liberty's triumphant battlefields, across freed continents and em- 
pires, to pay their grateful homage at the shrine of the glorious 
superstructure of Liberty, erected on this continent by the lives, 
suffering, and death of such as Abraham Lincoln, twice Pre.-ident 
of these United States. 

Once again, and I am done. As was said this mornine:, so we 
repeat again, " the United States dies not with Mr. Lincoln ; " on 
the other hand, 1 cannot but believe that his death gives it a newer 
and better existence. Let us, then, his survivors, be true to the 
great principles for which he offered up his life. His mantle has 
fallen upon a worthy man. In President Johnson I recognize 
many qualities of his predecessor. Like him, he is from the peo- 
ple, and knows how to sympathize with them. His past record 
shows him to be a true patriot, a tried lover of the Union; and 
leaning upon God, with our prayers and unflinching support, ho 
may, and. I have no doubt will, prove to be the Joshua of our 
hopes. Despair not ; the nation still lives, and its very existence 
calls us to work, for there is much to do. Our victories have not 
been common ones. The world never witnessed an}'' more fierce 
or terrible, and as glorious in their results. We hesitated a long 
time before unsheathing the sword. At least until forbearance 
with southern Eebels and latterly assassins ceased to be a virtue. 
Then, and not till then, were northern swords unsheathed "The 
pine was then brought against the palm ; " and tonight, after four 
years of bloody war, we begin to see the end — an end not ulti- 
mating in the extension "of the sum of all villainies," but an end 
that looks upon the black monster, cradled in its dying couch, and 
by its side, already dead, is that other horrible thing Secession, 



14 

Yes, four years agO; on Friday last, Charleston was drunk with 
whisky and joy over the fall of Siimpter. Already in their wild 
imaginings the new government, conceived in gross iniquity and 
wrought upon to great wrongs, slavery and secession was estab- 
lished, and the land of the despised Yankee was soon to fall an 
eas}' prey to southern chivalry! Alas! for the fatuity of human 
expectations, especially when founded in wrong. The glory of 
Charleston has passed away, and only a few hours ago, the very 
man upon whom the Charlestonians loved to heap their maledic- 
tions, (Beecher) re dedicated Sumpter and Charleston to God, and 
the rights of all men. We accepted of war, and firm in our con- 
victions of right; strong in our determination to conquer, putting 
our trust in God, we went forth to conquer. Our trust in Him was 
not misplaced. 

" For who that leans on his right arm 

Was ever yet forsaken ? 
What righteous cause can suffer harm 

If He its part has taken ? 
Though wild and loud and dark the cloud, — 
Behind its folds His hand upholds 
The calm sky of to-morrow." 

That to-morrow has at last come, and though its bright light is 
somewhat dimmed by our grief, yet it is the glorious harbinger of 
an honorable peace. The past four years have been fraught with 
much of sadness and sorrow, but ere four more pass, I have faith 
to believe, that the sun will again shine upon these States united 
and happy. Ere that time, if faithful to our high interests, every 
sword on this vast continent will have been forever sheathed 
for want of some opponent to liberty to subdue. As before said, 
there is much for us to do. War's desolations must be repaired ; 
southern loveliness must be restored ; ruined plantations redeemed 
from decay; ash piles turned again into habitations for freemen to 
live in. Over the fields now enriched by the best blood of earth 
must come again the white cotton, made more lovely and produc- 
tive than ever, because planted and tilled by the hands of free 
labor. The poor whites must be raised by education and social 
influence to their true position in society; and last, but not least, 
the negro must be educated and taught to value the blessings of 
freedom. Churches that have only rung to the groans and suffer- 
ings of the dying, must ring again to the songs of Zion, and the 
voice of God's ministers. School-houses, so long vacant, must be 
re-occupiod with southern children, and, if necessarj^, in order to a 
greater love for the Union, with Yankee teachers and Yankee 
books. Soldiers' homes are to be built, soldiers' widows to be pro- 



15 

vided for, soldiers' orphans to bo educated, and, rising above all 
this, our countr}' must be watched over with a zealous eye. A 
higher state of morals must pervade our political parties — enter 
into our legislative halls — possess the minds of our legislators, and 
all that pertains to religious and civil liberty, sacrodU' cared for. 
(Reneived applause.) Other thoughts crowd in upon me but I 
forbear. Peace is not yet declared, but it must soon come; J think 
withoi;t another battle — without the shedding of any more blood, 
save those who must expiate their guilt, and die as a warning to 
traitors and assassins in all the time to come. Our tribute of 
respect over, let us retire from this beautiful temple loving God and 
our country more. Mourning the loss of liberty's chieftain, let us 
keep his bright example ever before us. and go on in the glorious 
work of re-establishing this Union upon a rock more lasting than 
time, on principles that are almost as immutable as God himself. 
Then, when our race, like his, is run, nothing can give us more 
pleasure, save the presence of Jesus, than that of seeing the flag 
for which our President died waving over us, with not only its 
present number of stars, but many more added, all resplendant 
with freedom's light, telling us, in our dying moments, that 
America was always liberty's cradle, but never its grave. 



